Charles Cook (November 20, 1800
Springfield
Springfield may refer to:
* Springfield (toponym), the place name in general
Places and locations Australia
* Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast)
* Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council)
* Springfield, Queenslan ...
,
Otsego County, New York
Otsego County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,524. The county seat is Cooperstown. The name ''Otsego'' is from a Mohawk or Oneida word meaning "place of the rock."
History
In 178 ...
- October 16, 1866
Auburn
Auburn may refer to:
Places Australia
* Auburn, New South Wales
* City of Auburn, the local government area
*Electoral district of Auburn
*Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region
*Auburn, South Australia
*Auburn, Tasmania
*Aub ...
,
Cayuga County, New York
Cayuga County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 76,248. Its county seat and largest city is Auburn. The county was named for the Cayuga people, one of the Indian tribes in the Iroquois Conf ...
) was an American politician from New York.
Life
His father was killed during the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
, and a few years later he left home to find work. He became a clerk in a store in
Herkimer, New York
Herkimer is a town in Herkimer County, New York, United States, southeast of Utica. It is named after Nicholas Herkimer. The population was 10,175 at the 2010 census.
The town contains a village also called Herkimer. Herkimer County Community ...
, then went to
Utica, New York
Utica () is a Administrative divisions of New York, city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The List of cities in New York, tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 ...
and learned how to build canals. From 1823 on, he took part in the construction of the
Delaware and Hudson Canal. In 1829, in company with his brothers Hiram and Elbert, he engaged in the construction of the
Chemung Canal
The Chemung Canal is a former canal in New York, United States. The canal connected Seneca Lake at Watkins Glen to the Chemung River at Elmira, New York. It was planned to connect the Finger Lakes region and Pennsylvania's Susquehanna River ...
, and settled at
Havana, NY,
[The Village of Havana changed its name to Montour Falls in 1890.] which was incorporated as a village in 1836. Cook bought large tracts of land and invested in improvements.
In
1846
Events
January–March
* January 5 – The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Country with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom.
* January 13 – The Milan–Venice railway' ...
, he ran on the Whig ticket for Canal Commissioner, but was defeated. In
1847, he was one of the first three
Canal Commissioners elected under the
New York State Constitution
The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constituti ...
of 1846, and drew the one-year term. He was re-elected to a full three-year term in
1848, remaining in office from 1848 to 1851.
In 1854, he finally succeeded in his effort to create
Schuyler County, New York
Schuyler County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,898, making it the second-least populous county in New York. The county seat is the village of Watkins Glen. The name is in honor of Gene ...
with Havana, NY, as the county seat. After only seven years the county seat was moved to
Watkins against Cook's fierce opposition.
He was a member of the
New York State Senate
The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate.
Partisan com ...
(27th District) in
1862
Events
January–March
* January 1 – The United Kingdom annexes Lagos Island, in modern-day Nigeria.
* January 6 – French intervention in Mexico: French, Spanish and British forces arrive in Veracruz, Mexico.
* January ...
and
1863.
He was one of the owners of the Blossburg Coal Company, in
Blossburg, Pennsylvania
Blossburg is a borough in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,536 at the 2020 census.
History
In 1792, a party of immigrants who were building the Williamson Road from Williamsport, in Lycoming County, to Painted Post ...
. He took part in the construction of the
Erie Railway
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Eri ...
from
Binghamton, New York
Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...
to
Elmira, New York
Elmira () is a city and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. The population was 26,523 at the 2020 cens ...
which was used for the shipping of the coal.
He founded Cook Academy at Havana, NY, a boarding high school which closed after World War II. The building houses now the New York Academy of Fire Sciences.
He never married. The estate was inherited by his brother Elbert.
Notes
Sources
''The New York Civil List''compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (page 42; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
''The New-York Civil List''compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough, Stephen C. Hutchins & Edgar Albert Werner (pages 406 and 443; Weed, Parsons and Co., Albany NY, 1867)
Bust unveiled, with bio, in NYT on November 21, 1886
''Charles Cook - The Father of Schuyler County'' by Barbara H. Bell in ''The Crooked Lake Review'' (April 1995)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Charles
1800 births
1866 deaths
People from Springfield, New York
Erie Canal Commissioners
People from Montour Falls, New York
New York (state) state senators
19th-century American politicians